Last Friendly’s in South Florida closes its doors
ROYAL PALM BEACH — A sign on the front door of a local restaurant bears the news: “This location of Friendly’s is now closed,” it reads.
It’s the end of an era: Friendly’s, the popular Northeast diner chain, has closed its location in front of the Regal Cinemas movie theater on State Road 7 in Royal Palm Beach.
It was the final Friendly’s restaurant in South Florida, leaving three in the state. Those craving a Royal Banana Split or a Fribble now will need to drive to the closest location in the Treasure Coast at 230 NW Peacock Blvd. in Port St. Lucie, according to Friendly’s website.
The Friendly’s in Royal Palm Beach closed May 16, a company spokeswoman said.
“The landlord and the former franchisee were negotiating options for the location and over the past several weeks, a new franchise group had been managing the location, and when the former franchisee and landlord could not come to an agreement, the location was forced to close,” the spokeswoman said.
Employees were offered transfers to the Port St. Lucie Friendly’s, she said.
The Royal Palm Beach Friendly’s opened in July 2000. It has seen several franchise owners, first changing hands within a year and a half of its opening. The restaurant opened amid a boom in construction along the State Road 7 corridor south of Okeechobee Boulevard in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including the Regal Cinemas movie theater, Coral Sky Plaza — home to BJ’s Wholesale Club — and the Commons at Royal Palm shopping center.
While Friendly’s has closed a slew of restaurants in recent years, it also has experimented with new concepts, including the Friendly’s Express drive-through. The company also began building restaurants again, with its first new ground-up Massachusetts location since 2004 opening in November.